End of the semester!

Can you believe 13 weeks has passed just like that?

Looking back at my first blog post for ES2007, I came into the class hoping to be able to communicate effectively. Specifically it was presentation skills that I wanted to improve on. After going through 2 presentations and countless dry runs, I can confidently say I improved in my presentation skills and have become more aware of both my strengths and weaknesses in this area. Should future opportunities require myself to present, I will remember to internalise what has been taught in class and continue to improve on my own.

Other skills such as writing cover letters have been really useful to prepare myself for the working society once I graduate in less than a month. The guidelines for professional writing (such as the 7 Cs) will definitely be applicable even after completing the proposal and the module.

In general I really learnt many things in the module, and even if the workload was really heavy, the group projects gave us an opportunity to make friends! This is one big reason that makes attending class more enjoyable and tolerable as compared to other NUS classes. Friends, its been a pleasure knowing you guys and with the exams coming, All the BEST to everyone!! :D

Of course the module will not be made possible without its slave driver Brad! Thank you for all the encouragements you gave us throughout the course! You really made my last semester in NUS very different and special :D

OP Evaluation!

Link for presentation @ http://wellenstan.blogspot.com/2011/04/es2007s-recyclists-project-presentation.html (thanks wellens!)

A huge burden on my shoulders is finally gone! :D Anyways back to the self evaluation!

In general I felt the presentation was really an improvement as compared to when we practiced it the day before. I was not able to speak fluently at all and kept fumbling during the practice and it was really a mess as I recalled. However a lot of practice and familiarity really make a huge difference when it comes to presentations as I felt I improved as compared to my peer teaching in terms of fumbling lesser and longer eye contact.

Personally I really like our slides and that there are many pictures and minimal words that make the audience concentrate on the speaker as opposed to staring at the screen. We were actually helped by Hwee Teng's group on how to present our slides and the suggestions really helped! Thanks :D

As for non-verbal cues, I had feedbacks from both my team mates as well as other helpful people in the class that I tend to roll and close my eyes when I try to recall what I have to say during presentations. I tried my best to minimize this weird sub-conscious movement and I hope I did not do that (or at least not that much) during this presentation!

That being said, I still fumbled for a while during my presentation and that could be improved through more practice and maybe being less nervous throughout the presentation. Plus I should minimize my use of "erm" in my Q&A, as pointed out by Greg and Jake. I was actually surprised by myself and how many times I used "erm"! Once again I guess that is another thing that I do without myself noticing.